I’ve made a t-shirt for Richard. It’s his birthday soon.

Sorry the picture is a little low quality. I don’t have a camera now and I took this using my camera phone. The t-shirt says (in the Malaysian language):

Matahari tidak tahu ianya bintang.

That means:

The sun does not know its a star.

It’s a saying Richard saw on a t-shirt in Japan (in English of course). It truly is a saying for Richard. He is the sun but he doesn’t realise that he is a star.

Actually, that goes for all of us!

It was quite simple to make really. I used these lovely fabric dye sticks called Fabric Fun by Pentel.

I was meant to use a light colored or white t-shirt so that the colors stood out, but too late I read the instructions! Still, I like the sedated colors, it gives the t-shirt some character.

These sticks are the easiest to use! And also really cheap. I bought them at Artfriend, Gardens (next to Borders) for about RM6.80.

1. Create a draft of the design you want to use. If you’ve got text, it’s best to use a computer and print out the text so it comes out neat and nice.
2. Put a piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt so that the color doesn’t leak through t-shirt.
3. Stretch the t-shirt. This is rather important. It’s really difficult to draw on if the t-shirt isn’t stretched. It’s not impossible, but makes things easy all around.
4. Put your design underneath the t-shirt (but on top of the cardboard) where you like it to appear on the front of the t-shirt. It is important that you can see the design. If not, you can make a stencil and cut out the design.  I printed my design out, but then my t-shirt color was too dark and I couldn’t see the design through it. So I had to freehand the whole thing.
5. Carefully trace the design using the dye sticks. And then you can color it in, or do whatever it is you want. Get creative!
6. When you’re done, cover the t-shirt (the design part) with paper and iron it – according to the correct temperature for the t-shirt fabric. And you’re done!

Easy peasy~

It is also wise to wash the t-shirt beforehand to get rid of any traces of dye, anti-static fluid or conditioner in it. This way the color will stay on the t-shirt.

I’ll be making another t-shirt for myself. I’ll post it up soon!

This is a lot brilliant!

Music, visual, trend, fashion and design in one place! The concept is 8-bit (1982-1990 era); and in particular the graphics architectures, algorithms and techniques being employed at that time in computer games (gameboy,atari,etc). We will play with lighting and a lot of colours | combine with visual & music throughout the event!

Go check out their website and check out the youtube videos they have there. I’m really excited about this event. It’s a little bit like, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” – except for the blue part.

I’ve always wondered why people didn’t start remixing music from the Atari and Gameboy games (well, mostly because it sounds a lot like the music from feng tau clubs in Cheras but way cooler) and here it is! Colourama!

Brilliant!

Check out their website for more details and support this gig! It should be full of oldnew creative fun!

Ever notice how everything in Malaysia always ends up in the mamak or some restaurant. Basically, everything in Malaysia involves eating. Now this is not good news to anyone who’s trying to a) Eat healthy b) Maintain a healthy weight.

So Ui Hua and I came up with this list of things to do that does not involve eating (and costs less than RM100). The really cool ones are mine and the sub par sometimes juvenile ones are Ui Hua’s. I only put them here so he doesn’t feel left out.

So in no random order:

• JOIN THE GYM. Most gym’s give out a 2 week free trial. Join the free trial, try out all the equipment and join all the classes. When you’re done, join another gym’s free trial! Try Celebrity Fitness (Bangsar Village 2, One Utama), Fitness First (The Curve, John Hancock, etc) or True Fitness (Section 14, Hartamas).
• BAT AWAY. Go to the batting cage at One Utama new wing. It’s only about RM30 for 15 minutes (I think around there). It’s loads of fun and good for letting off some steam!
• GET FREE COUPONS. Scan through local magazines and look for coupons for free stuff like massages, manicures and facials. Or alternatively you can check out the information counter at shopping malls. They always have these discount or free coupons from their vendors. Go wild!
• MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Learn how to make and play a musical instrument.

Building Musical Instruments.

Musical Craft Projects.

• GET AN EDUCATION. Randomly go into a college and attend a class.
• DRAW. Draw on pavements with chalks till you’re chased off.
• TWIST A BALLOON. Learn how to balloon twist. This is surprisingly fun to do!

Balloon twisting 101

Balloon twisting instructions

• URBAN LEGENDS. Test out urban legends to see if they’re true. Check out SNOPES and browse through their urban legends. Coke itself has about a gazillion legends!
• GO GAMEY. Play board games like Cranium, Risk or Taboo. Incidentally if anyone wants to play Cranium please contact me. We’re looking for people to play with (uh yes, did I just advertise that even banded together Ui Hua and I still don’t have enough friends to play a board game?? Yes Watson, I think I did).
• ULTIMATE FRISBEE. Find a couple of friends and play ultimate Frisbee. Good exercise and loads of fun!

And there you have it! I’m sure doing any of the above can keep you entertained for sometime. And best of all, it doesn’t involve much cash.

But, if it doesn’t here are a few more things you can do:

• Go to Borders, MPH or Kinokuniya and read for free.
• Play Paintball! Not as cheap as the rest, but if you have enough people you can have a good game for around RM60 per person.
• Go to a playground and go on all the rides.
• Go to a shopping mall, sit on the kiddie rides and see how long it takes before you get kicked off.
• Learn origami and gift your friends origami animals as birthday presents.
• Visit the SPCA or PAWS and play with the animals.
• Visit the ISA and play with the inmates (err… I don’t know how much trouble we might get for this one! And in case some of you didn’t get it, it’s a joke! Geez!)
• Go to the electronic store and set all the alarms to go off at the same time.
• Go to the toy store and put the dolls in lewd positions.

Got any more to add?

Ui Hua has been practicing Balloon Folding these past few days. I think he’s gotten pretty good. We dropped by this new Chocolate cafe in Bangsar Village I (next to the Starbucks, where Bakerzin used to be) to grab a hot chocolate (it was delicious) and Ui Hua demonstrated his skills for me. He made me a dog called Sally and a hat.

Whenever I’m with Ui Hua we always have these arguments on who gets to pay for meals – which is surprising because I feel most Malaysian men don’t usually pay for meals, much less argue to pay for meals. So I asked him, “What is a girl to do?”

These are Ui Hua’s tips on how to get a guy to pay for your meal:

• Wait till he says, “So, you want to adjourn from here?” (Though if he actually uses the word ‘adjourn’ you should never see him again purely on principle) so that he calls for the cheque. For some reason Ui Hua believes that whoever calls for the bill first needs to pay for it?
• Go to the toilet when he calls for the bill so you don’t have to pay. But you run the risk of coming out of the loo only to see that he has actually divided the bill in half and is waiting for you to pay your share (Ui Hua’s theory is that any guy with half a brain will settle the bill when the girl is in the loo – out of politeness. But see, that’s the problem there. He assumes that men have half a brain and are polite).
• When the bill arrives, take out your purse realllyy slowly.
• If he asks you out, it’s a given that he has to pay. So wait till he asks you out (uh, ok..)

Ui Hua’s theory is that chivalry is not part of Malaysian culture, hence that’s why most men don’t pick up the tab. I don’t know to what extent this statement is true, but having grown up in Malaysia, I must say, I haven’t encountered much chivalry myself. I never knew that chivalry was cultural thing! Or maybe men find it easier to get away with things here?

According to Uncle Lim’s friend, Farez (I think that’s his name) Malaysian men don’t think that women are of the same level or standard as them a.k.a, they look down on us. So basically, we don’t deserve chivalry. In fact (according to him) they think that having them take us out for meals is such a big deal that we should pay for our meals and perhaps even theirs. Now I’m not sure if these are also his views or if he’s just generalizing on other men.

Wow.

Is this really the viewpoint of Malaysian men? If it is, us women are screwed. If it is then it goes to show how much bullshit the women put up with. If it is we’re so deluded that we don’t even know we’re getting the short end of the stick.

So I’m going to conduct a little experiment here. I’m going to try and see if the statement “Malaysian men don’t believe in chivalry (and won’t pay)” is actually true. I’m going to go out with as many men as I can (ha ha, sound like fun eh? You haven’t met Malaysian men have you?), and when it’s time to pay I’m going to hold back or just pretend to pay and see how many men actually make the grand gesture.

Yes, it’s a great sacrifice I’m making for womankind…

Not too long ago I was asked to create a doll outfit for the launch of the Tongue in Chic website. We were each given these beautiful handmade dolls to dress. Being the lazy bum that I am, I decided to make one out of gloves. Which would require a lot less sewing and yet, create a nice pant-suit outfit. I thought I might share this with you guys.

Step 1:

Rummage through your glove collection and fish out 2 different sets of gloves.

Step 2:

Decide which glove is to be the top and bottom. Then measure your glove against your doll. It doesn’t have to be precise, it isn’t rocket science or designer couture.

Step 3:

Lets start with the pants. Cut out the 2 middle fingers off the glove. See picture below for sample on how to hack off the pants.

Step 4:

Cut out the tip of the glove so that the doll legs can go through. I then sewed the end up with red thread so that it looks neater. I used the Blanket Stitch. If you don’t know how to sew the blanket stitch you can click here or watch the video below:

Then you can sew the sides of the gloves so that it fits nicely on the doll’s waist.

The pants are done!

Step 5:

Now we can move on to the top of the outfit. Cut out 3 glove fingers and follow the instructions on how to cut the glove further in the picture below (basically snip two of the side finger tips off for the hands and then cut the middle glove finger lower for the neck). Then fit it onto the doll and mark where you need to stitch. Then sew the sides up.

You top is almost ready!

Step 6:

I decided to just put on a safety pin as a way to hold the top together. You can either sew on buttons or anything else to hold it together. Then I sewed the back of the pants so that it held together more neatly and gave the pants a more streamlined look. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.

And tada! You doll is done! You can vary this look anyway you want. Even make skirts and dresses out of gloves, depending on how big your doll is. I’m guessing a Barbie doll will be perfect for Glove outfits. Happy experimenting!

[Show as slideshow]